By Jason Kornwitz
BROOKLINE – Ask co-captain Tara McLarney what she thinks about playing at Parsons Field, home of Northeastern women’s soccer.
“Home games are a big deal for us,” McLarney said, her team back in Boston after trips to Denver and Worcester. “To win at home is important because this is where we are most confident. We know we can’t let people beat us on our home field.”
After respective 2-1 victories over Long Island on Sunday and Sacred Heart on Friday night at Parsons Field, the Huskies demonstrated the significance of playing on familiar grounds.
Against Long Island, the Huskies took a 1-0 lead 28 minutes ino the game. Freshman forward Caitlin Whelan knocked a shot past the oncoming goalie after a crisp feed from sophomore forward Kristen Blake.
The goal was a tribute to the Huskies’ aggressive style of play.
“We can’t react to what the other team is doing,” NU coach Ed Matz said. “We have to force the action and dictate the pace of play.”
For a young squad, this can often be difficult because of a lack of collegiate experience and unfamiliarity with each other.
“We’ve struggled sometimes,” McLarney said, “because we go into games thinking teams are better than they are and don’t give ourselves enough respect.”
But on Sunday afternoon it was the Huskies whose energetic play tired their opponent out.
“We’re a young team, but players are learning more and more every game,” Matz said. “[Sunday] we were a little crisper.”
Long Island tied the score at 1-1 just six minutes into the second half when a header slipped past goalkeeper Mariel Wilner, but Whelan put the Huskies up for good at the 65-minute mark. She took a pass from senior Jackie Spellman to notch her third multi-goal game of the season.
Whelan has now scored six of the first nine goals this season for the Huskies. But Matz is not worried that more players are not putting goals on the board.
“I’d be concerned if we weren’t creating chances,” he said. “[Whelan] creates a lot of stuff herself.”
In their Friday night contest against Sacred Heart, the Huskies established a physical presence early which set the tone for the game.
“In Denver we didn’t play that physically. We were letting teams push us around a little bit,” Wilner said. “It’s important to show we’re not going to get pushed around.”
Still, Sacred Heart took the lead 40 minutes into play with a well-placed shot high and to Wilner’s right.
“A foul was committed that wasn’t called,” Matz said, “and the girl just hit a good shot.”
But with fewer than two minutes left in the first half, defenseman Laura Johnson tied it at 1-1 off a Hanna Olsson corner.
At the 73-minute mark, senior midfielder Jackie Spellman passed to Kowalik, who scored on a breakaway.
“From a physical aspect, everyone stepped up,” McLarney said. “This is what we worked for and we finally got it done. The younger players need to see there’s more to the season than the first couple of games and we bounced back.”
